U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal said Monday that he is asking the religiously conservative owners of Hobby Lobby to ignore their recent victory in the U.S. Supreme Court and allow their Connecticut workers to have insurance coverage for contraceptives.

Blumenthal and several advocates for women's rights staged a news conference in Manchester in the parking lot of a store that is being converted for a new Hobby Lobby retail outlet, urging the chain's owners to "do the right thing."

"I call on them to do the right thing and respect Connecticut law," said Blumenthal. "Connecticut statutes mandate full coverage of contraceptive care." At the same time, Blumenthal acknowledged the recent SCOTUS ruling gives Hobby Lobby's owners leeway to disregard this state's laws.

The Supreme Court's 5-4 decision in the Hobby Lobby case gave family owners of private, closely-held companies that object to contraception for religious reasons the power to limit their workers' insurance coverage for at least some forms of birth control.

Blumenthal called the Supreme Court ruling "immensely misguided" and said he is a primary co-sponsor of Senate legislation to overturn that decision. He insisted the bill can get through the Senate and even stands a chance of passage in the House, which is controlled by conservative Republicans.

Representatives of the Permanent Commission on the Status of Women, NARAL Pro-Choice Connecticut, and state Health Care Advocate Victoria Veltri all spoke in support of the call for Hobby Lobby to obey state law.

"Bosses shouldn't reach out from their boardrooms into employees' bedrooms," said Christian Miron, executive director of NARAL's Connecticut chapter.

Blumenthal said he won't call for any consumer boycott of Hobby Lobby's new Connecticut store if its owners fail to respond to pleas to change their policy on contraceptive coverage for employees.

"I'm not going to tell consumers what they should do," Blumenthal said, adding he believes Connecticut shoppers are "smart enough" to figure such issues out for themselves.

Susan Yolan, a spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood in Connecticut, said consumer boycotts "are difficult to maintain" and said her organization isn't calling for any Hobby Lobby boycott. But she also pointed out that most of Hobby Lobby's customers are likely to be women.